Faculty Stories

MSU Assistant Professor Shares How Learning a Language Can Help Students Experience Diverse Perspectives

May 24, 2022

In this Faculty Voice, Rajiv Ranjan, an Assistant Professor of Hindi-Urdu in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University, talks about some of the misperceptions and nuances related to South Asian languages and culture. Ranjan also reflects on why Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month in May is important to recognize and celebrate. At MSU ,…

WRAC Professor Wins CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award

March 21, 2022

Steven Fraiberg, Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University, received a 2022 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Technical and Scientific Communication Award for the Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication. Fraiberg’s article, “Unsettling Start-Up Ecosystems: Geographies, Mobilities, and Transnational Literacies in the Palestinian Start-Up…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News

The Cube Wins Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant to Fund Three Projects

March 15, 2022

The Cube, which is housed in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC) and offers publication resources for the Michigan State University campus community and beyond, has won a 2021-2022 Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant (CEIG) to support three of its projects. CEIG funding is awarded to projects that aim to create a more inclusive educational and work environment for all. The Cube…

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Kaveh Askari Begins Tenure as Director of Film Studies

November 2, 2021

Part of Michigan State University’s Film Studies Program core faculty for five years, Kaveh Askari is now the director of the program. He began his tenure as Film Studies Director in August 2021.

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Scholar-Educator, Writer, and Performer Joins AAAS as an Academic Specialist

November 1, 2021

Among the first generation on her mother’s side born outside the Jim Crow South and the first generation on her father’s side born outside Ghana, West Africa, Dr. Chamara Jewel Kwakye’s family, on both sides, have always placed education as paramount, and not just any kind of education, but rather an education that clearly connects to the freedom of the…

Faculty Stories / News

Scholar, Performer, Educator Joins AAAS Faculty

October 27, 2021

A scholar, performer, and educator, Gianina K. Lockley joined MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) on August 16, 2021, as a Research Associate whose work is situated at the intersection of critical race theory, ethnography, storytelling, theatre, dance, and performance studies with a focus on the study of race, class, gender, and sexuality within both staged performances and the performative practices of every day.

woman wearing a black top with short curly hair smiling at the camera with a bookshelf in the background

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AAHD Professor and Museum Curator Honored by American Folklore Society

January 29, 2021

The American Folklore Society (AFS), the country's professional society for folklorists, has awarded Marsha MacDowell, Professor in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design and MSU Museum Curator, the 2020 recipient of the society's Benjamin A. Botkin Prize for significant lifetime achievement in the field of public folklore. MacDowell is the Curator of Folk Arts and Quilt Studies at…

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Professor Receives Award for Scholarly Edition in Translation

January 4, 2021

Professor Aurora Wolfgang Aurora Wolfgang, Professor of French in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies, has received the 2020 Award for a Scholarly Edition in Translation from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender (SSEMWG) for her edition and translation of Gabrielle-Suzann Barbot de Villeneuse’s Beauty and the Beast: The Original Story, which was published by…

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Faculty voice: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

September 23, 2020

My family and I were attending a virtual Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) service when our son texted us that Ruth Bader Ginsburg — or RBG, as he and all his young generation knew her — had just passed away. Minutes later, the rabbi, clearly shaken by the news, gave a heartfelt tribute to Ginsburg. My heart dropped at hearing…

two photos of women side-by-side. on the left, the woman has short hair, a black turtleneck, and dangly earrings. on the right, the woman has shorter hair, and a grid-patterned top

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty Stories / News / Programs / Student

Welcome AAAS Minors

September 2, 2020

Dear AAAS Minors,Welcome to the new Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at Michigan State University! We are Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown, the Inaugural Chair, and Dr. Tamura Lomax, Founding Associate Professor. Together we make up the two 100% appointed faculty in the new AAAS Department. On the first day of classes, it is our pleasure to officially welcome you to an exciting upcoming academic year! We bring with us densely rich…